In fact, the real reason for the shortage of women in top positions is down to
men still clinging on to control, according to new reserach by Columbia
Business School

The theory that women who rise to the top of their profession try to stop other women succeeding is a myth, new research has found,

Queen Bee syndrome, which holds that women jealously guard their positions from usurpers of their own sex, has no basis in reality, researchers at Columbia Business School in New York have concluded.

In fact, the real reason for the shortage of women in top positions is down to men still clinging on to control, according to their findings.

The academics studied top management teams at 1,500 companies over a 20 year period. They found that far form stopping women climbing the career ladder, a female chief executive was more likely to appoint women in senior positions.

The study concluded that the most likely explanation for the failure of more women to break the glass ceiling was a desire among men to keep them out of the boardroom.

"Women face an implicit quota, whereby firms seek to maintain a small number of women on their top management team, usually only one," the authors concluded.

"While firms gain legitimacy from having women in top management, the value of this legitimacy declines with each woman, whereas the perceived costs, from the perspective of the male majority in top management, increase with each woman.”

Just six of the companies in the current FTSE 100 are run by female chief executives.

Helen Fraser, former head of Penguin Books, told The Sunday Times: "It used to be believed that women were less likely to help others with career advancement because of fear of professional rivalry or of being undermined.

"This new research indicates that the notion that female senior executives are 'queen bees' who are unwilling to support other women needs to be put to rest.

"Indeed ... it's more likely that too many companies feel that by appointing one woman they have somehow ticked the 'diversity box' and don't need to appoint any more."